Sunday, 22 January 2012

Saturn in Libra requires our serious consideration over the next few weeks. Mid January, it moved into the final degree of Libra, where it will stay until March 3.

The final degree of any sign, the 29th degree, is known as the Anaretic (or Critical) Degree. When a planet is at the Anaretic Degree there is a sense of urgency and extremism. Closure is required before the planet can move fully into the energies of the next sign, so issues/themes related to the planet’s outgoing sign placement come to a head. Things can seem as if they’re at the end of their rope with fast action required to find a solution. Issues that have been complacently pushed to one side tend to pop up for urgent resolution. There’s a sense that time is running out. Decisions need to be made quickly.

For Saturn in Libra, this is an especially tense visit to the Anaretic Degree. It will stay there longer than it usually would due to its slow movement as it prepares to station Retrograde at 29 Libra on February 8 (see data at the end). The Retrograde (apparent backward movement) of Saturn makes it doubly likely that old issues will come up over the next few weeks.

Saturn Retrograde in the final degree of Libra is a time to review your progress over the last couple of years. Tie up loose ends, clear up unresolved issues, reflect upon losses one last time, allow yourself to enjoy the rewards of your achievements, make some (perhaps difficult) decisions, restore your sense of balance and prepare to let go so you can move on.

How this will affect you depends on which house Saturn in Libra is transiting in your chart and which natal planets it’s transiting, if any. The house Saturn has been moving through reflects the area of your life where you have been facing Saturn’s tests, delays, obstacles and challenges, where you have had to take responsibility, meet obligations and learn lessons.

In particular, Saturn in Libra has brought lessons and tests around diplomacy, compromise and fairness. It’s asked you to take relationships more seriously, to set healthy boundaries and to get the give-take balance right. Any kind of relationship could have felt like a heavy responsibility under this transit. Solid relationships have become more committed, but others may have broken down. We have learnt lessons around communicating and relating to others. We’ve been urged to play by the rules, stop competing and learn to cooperate and negotiate. Disputes, arguments and claims may have arisen. Some have been settled, but others remain to be resolved. Under Saturn in Libra peace and harmony has been more than possible, but you will have discovered that achieving it requires hard work, patience and constant compromise.

Your Personal Saturn in Libra Review

Back in 2010, Astroair Astrology wrote about the themes of Saturn in Libra through the Houses, including handy tips. Use these themes and tips as your starting point for your own Saturn in Libra Review.

In case you’re quite new to astrology, both links explain how to quickly and easily work out what house Saturn in Libra is moving through.

Here are a a few questions to start you off (relate these to the area of life represented by the house Saturn has been transiting):

What have I learnt?

What obstacles have I overcome?

What new responsibilities have I taken on? Are they still relevant going forwards?

Where have I been held back/held myself back?

What have I achieved?

How has the way I have related to others improved?

Where in my life (or in the life of others), have I helped to create harmony and good relating?

What loose ends do I need to tie up?

What compromises have I had to make? Has it been worth it?

What do I need to let go of?

What decisions need to be made now?

I hope things come together for you over the next few weeks. Certainly, having a personal review now can only help, especially if things come to an urgent head and you need to act quickly or make a difficult decision. Let me know how you get on.

Thursday, 12 January 2012

“The sands of time are running out for the world and not even Indiana Jones can save us now. The astrological alignments and numerological formulae cannot be wrong: on December 21 this year, the apocalypse foretold 5,125 years ago by the ancient Mayans will come to pass and the world will end.”

This is a quote from The Daily Mail newspaper, in an article that went on to debunk the 2012 end of day theories.

Yes, the Mayan calendar comes to an end, apparently, but this does not mean the end of time. What it does mean is a mystery, but nowhere did the Mayans predict a world ending apocalypse, to the best knowledge of archaeologists and anthropologists.

Even if the Mayans did prophesise doom and gloom, we know that prophesies (ancient and modern) are very open to interpretation and rarely if ever come true. Remember Harold Camping who was convinced that the bible predicted the end on October 21 2011? He had to make an embarrassing retreat when sunrise heralded another earth day on October 22. Many of Camping’s followers, as is often the case, were left out of pocket.

As an astrologer, I can tell you there is nothing in the December 21, 2012 chart that predicts the end of the world. I hang my reputation on that and if any astrologer out there can prove to me otherwise, on the basis of the astrological measurements and the common sense application of factual evidence, then I will give up astrology for good!

You see, while planetary alignments suggest the type of energy that will prevail, we cannot accurately predict how that energy will manifest. This is because, as human beings, we have the free will to decide whether to draw upon the energy available and if we do, we have the free will to decide how to use it -destructively or creatively, for our own good or for the good of others and so on. For example, the disruptive, rebellious, sudden-change inciting energies that accompany the on-going Uranus-Pluto square are there to be tapped into. While many of us will proactively embrace the opportunity for a shake-up of the status quo, still more of us will carry on with business as usual, dealing with change only when we absolutely have to.

Imbedded in the symbolism of every astrological alignment, however challenging it looks on paper, is the opportunity for positive growth and change. It’s up to us, collectively and individually, to make the best of it and to positively learn from the experience.

When ‘sensible’ astrologers make predictions (or forecasts, as I prefer to call them) they are based on our practical knowledge and experience, including our understanding of the symbolism of the planets, our experience of what occurred during previous similar alignments and our knowledge of history and/or current affairs (or personal history and current circumstances in the case of a forecast for an individual person). To that we apply a big dollop of good old fashioned common sense. Only then do we have a set of realistic assumptions on which to make a forecast.

When forecasting the future, headline grabbing sensationalism which taps into people’s fears, should play no part. Neither should astrologers claim to have some kind of special hotline to the gods.

I learnt astrology by taking classes, sitting exams, reading books, studying myself and my friends, sharing with my colleagues and listening to my clients. I am not a chosen one with exclusive access to arcane knowledge and I don’t hear voices in my head. I am not a guru and I don’t need followers. I simply want to help my clients and readers and encourage them to question me and more importantly to question themselves and the world. I would be worried if anyone took my opinions and suggestions as the final and only word on the matter.

An end of the world prediction based on no real evidence, astrological or otherwise, will never come from an astrologer who knows their stuff.

Yes, we can say with some authority that we are going through challenging times and that things could well get tougher. In the years to come, an economic catastrophe to make the 2008 banking crisis look trifling is a possibility, as are environmental disasters, but these events are by no means inevitable.

We should be prepared for anything, but we should not live in fear, for it is fear that the 2012 doom mongers are playing on. Many of them are cashing in nicely. The Daily Mail article mentions an entrepreneur who is selling places in bunkers for $50,000 to those who are wealthy enough and dumb enough to fall for the con. And there are entire websites devoted to selling 2012 survival kits. Anything from gas masks to bullet proof vests. A year’s supply of dehydrated food is there for the ordering if you can afford the thousand-dollar plus price tag.

So let’s be sensible this 2012. It’s wise to plan for potential hardship, but healthy to hope for a better world and responsible to do our bit to try to make that happen.

Instead of running scared and giving your money and energy to gurus and salesmen and other scaremongers, be smart with your time and even smarter with your money. Ask questions, pull your head out of the sand, look around, trust yourself and stay flexible.

We are living through a time of great challenge, but even greater possibility. Are you ready?

Sunday, 1 January 2012

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and I hope you enjoyed the celebrations. Of course, we weren't just saying hello to the New Year, we were letting go of the old year.

I celebrated with friends and at midnight, as we stood on the roof of their building watching the fireworks over London, someone shouted, goodbye 2011, you were c**p! Yes, without a doubt, 2011 was a year when many of us were swept up in a tide of change, challenge and difficulty.

This was reflected in the symbolism of the planetary alignments, most notably the applying square of radical, impetuous Uranus in Aries to Pluto in Capricorn, which demands sweeping transformation of our societal structures from the foundations up, including our economic and political structures and leaders. Who would have believed that 2011 would see the end of Mubarak's regime in Egypt, the overthrowing of Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the assassination of Osama bin Laden, the humiliating fall of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi? Instead, People Power was the way forward, witnessed most dramatically in the Arab Spring uprisings, but also in the riots and protests across Europe and in the worldwide Occupy movement.

Saturn continued through Libra, prompting us to question the boundaries of our relationships and alliances, on a personal level but also on a collective and political level. In the Eurozone crisis for example, relationships amongst EU countries have been strained almost to the limit over questions around who should pay to bailout failing Eurozone countries.
Neptune continued to travel hand in hand with Chiron, as both planets played out their last days in Aquarius and immersed themeselves in watery Pisces (Neptune finally leaves Aquarius behind in February). This suggests a collective (and for some, a personal) need to feel and understand sacrifice at a deep level. We're being told that, even though times are hard and set to get even harder, we're all in this together. Beware though, Neptune can be the great deceiver. Are we really all in this together? The Occupy Movement would say no we're not, the 99% are being asked to pick up the tab for the mistakes of the 1% who continue to 'get away with it'. The romanticism of Neptune in Pisces came out in the fairy tale fantasy that was the royal wedding and we were reminded of the destructive power of water by the devastating tsunami and nucleur crisis in Japan.

What will 2012 bring, more of the same? I believe it will bring the same and more.

The new People Power is only just finding its feet. It will continue to gain momentum as Uranus and Pluto make their first and second of seven exact squares in June and September 2012. Five more squares follow in 2013, 14 and 15. Exciting new leaders will begin to emerge, but in the end will they be any better than the leaders they will replace, or just different? Economically, we're set for another recession in 2012, with some even predicting a depression. I think they're correct, all the indications are there. It's a necessary step towards overhauling a system that is no longer working. We have failed to change voluntarily so we must do it the hard way. It's just a pity that this will mean suffering for so many. As for the '1%', as the Uranus and Pluto squares bed in, we will see more and more of them being held accountable for the messes they have created. Expect to see an avalanche of corporate and political heads rolling over the next three years. Again, will their replacements be any better or will the ousted leaders just be sacrificial gestures (Neptune in Pisces) so that the 1% can get back to 'business as usual' as quickly as possible? This is a time when we really can change the world, but also a time where it will be too easy to miss the opportunity if we don't fight hard enough or shout loud enough.

In October 2012, Saturn makes a clean break from Libra and enters Scorpio, where it will remain until 2015. Uneasy alliances and shaky friendships won't survive this transition. The UK coalition government will begin to break down, perhaps acrimoniously and I will be surprised if we don't see more than one country crashing out ot the Euro currency. People and communities, as well as countries, will become more secretive and more concerned about protecting what they've got, less inclined to share or compromise. Law and order, national, local and personal security and immigration will become hot topics during Saturn's time in Scorpio. See Theodore White's article for more on Saturn in Scorpio.

Neptune in Pisces will be reflected on all levels, all at once. Expect the power of nature to make herself known over and over, but also expect to be heartened by the compassion and empathy of the human race in response to any kind of suffering or hardship. This is where Chiron in Pisces comes in and it will be those who have suffered the most that will have the most to offer others in hardship or despair. Neptune in Pisces will continue to come out through music, fashion, movies and in our spirituality. Expect a fantasy/escapism theme to emerge in all these areas. Fashion will follow film and the Maggie Thatcher look (yes, really), will be the height of glamour, closely followed by styles from The Great Gatsby. New findings into the nature of consciousness and the interconnectedness of all life will be published. Science will more and more come to feel like a religious experience, as discoveries in astrophysics push the boundaries of our comprehension and make us question reality. Lies and trickery will also be the order of Neptune in Pisces and deceptions will be uncovered. The full extent of the phone hacking scandal will emerge, including details of exactly how Piscean Rupert Murdoch played his part.

My survival tips for 2012?

Don't believe all that you see or all that you hear. Seek the answers from within and even then question yourself. In fact, this is a year to question everything,

Fight for your rights (and for the rights of others).

Stand up for who you are and be the unique person you were always meant to be.

Don't blindly follow any kind of leader, especially any kind of guru who claims to have all the answers.

Folllow your own lead.

Be your own boss.

Cut out the weed, cut down on the booze, keep a toe in reality if you're tempted to go on any flight of fantasy.

Create something beautiful.

Let go of the illusion of security and feel safe anyway.

2012 will push many of us to the edge, keeping clean and healthy in mind, body and spirit will help us to appreciate the view without falling off.